A written statement that is served by an entity’s management to its auditors with the purpose of confirming certain matters or to prove or support other audit evidence in an audit of financial statements. Written representations, by nature, do not include financial statements, the assertions provided therein, or supporting documents and records.

The auditors request written representations from management and, where appropriate, those charged with governance as to what extent they believe that significant assumptions used in making accounting estimates are reasonable.

Written representations are necessary information that the auditors seek to obtain from management in connection with the audit of the entity’s financial statements. And hence written representations are audit evidence, similar to responses to inquiries.

While written representations provide necessary audit evidence, they do not, per se, produce sufficient appropriate audit evidence about any of the matters involved therein. Furthermore, provision of reliable written representations does not affect the nature or extent of other audit evidence that the auditors secure about the management’s fulfillment of its responsibilities, or about specific assertions.

Management is considered responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework or the preparation of financial statements that provide a true and fair view in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework.

The auditor requests an entity’s management to provide a written representation that it has fulfilled its responsibility for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework, including fair presentation of the same, where appropriate, as defined in the terms of the audit engagement. More specifically, the auditor requests management to provide a written representation that it has made available to the auditor all relevant information and access to information and records as set out in the terms of the audit engagement. The management has to confirm that all transactions have been recorded and are reflected in the financial statements without omission or manipulation.